Pre-treatment Steps You Should Take before Fluoride Treatment
Fluoride is a fundamental mineral that helps prevent cavities in the mouth. Florida restores minerals lost by tooth enamel to prevent harmful bacteria from accumulating and has been an essential oral health treatment for nearly 70 years. Fluoride treatments are recommended for everyone and children in particular because it limits the development of tooth decay in their mouth.
Fluoride treatments are entirely painless and tolerated well by most children. The therapy requires merely a few minutes to apply, and your child is free to continue their activities as usual. The application process of fluoride is straightforward and will likely cause no anxiety or stress in children. However, fluoride protects children’s teeth by strengthening their tooth enamel, making it challenging for the acids deposited by plaque to penetrate the enamel layer to infect and harm the nerves and blood vessels at the center of the tooth.
Pre-Treatment Steps before Fluoride Treatment
If your child is scheduled to receive fluoride treatment in Lancaster, SC, you must prepare your child for a visit to a dental facility like any other. You don’t need to keep your child hungry before the treatment and must arrive at the dentist’s office at the given time with your kid to receive the fluoride application.
You can prepare your kid by telling them what to expect at the dentist’s office and how the treatment they receive will prevent harmful microorganisms from creating holes in their teeth. You can also inform them that the pediatric dental office in Lancaster will provide them a bag full of goodies if they behave in the dental office and merely sit in the dentist’s chair with their mouths open for a few minutes.
How Is Fluoride Applied on Children’s Teeth?
Dr. Vanessa Crumpley paints the tops and sides of each tooth of children with a tiny brush. Fluoride varnish is sticky but hardens quickly when it comes in contact with saliva. Your child will likely feel the hardened varnish with their tongue but licking it off remains challenging.
As mentioned earlier, fluoride treatments are painless during the application and will not cause any pain even after. However, if your kid is creating a stir, it is all the better because the doctor finds it easier to apply the varnish with the child’s mouth slightly open. Alternatively, the doctor might ask you to hold your child in your lap facing knee to knee with them when applying the varnish.
So long as you prepare yourself to undergo this minor challenge, you can protect your kid’s teeth from tooth decay and cavities with a single application of fluoride as recommended by the kid’s pediatric dentist. You don’t even have to worry about significant expenses if you have dental insurance because the insurers cover fluoride treatments for children.
How to Care for Children’s Teeth after Fluoride Treatment?
Fluoride treatments don’t impose any restrictions on children after applying fluoride varnish. Your child can eat and drink soon after the fluoride varnish application. However, you must not give your child crunchy on hot foods and liquids but restrict them to soft foods and beverages. Do not brush or floss their teeth for at least four to six hours after the application. The Lancaster pediatric dentist suggests that you wait until the following day before you brush and floss your kid’s teeth. If your child knows how to spit, remind them to spit when rinsing.
Why Are Fluoride Treatments Essential?
Fluoride treatments function by restoring minerals to tooth surfaces where bacteria have eroded the tooth enamel. Fluoride also inhibits the growth of harmful oral microorganisms to prevent cavities further. Fluoride does not eliminate tooth decay. However, it creates a robust outer surface of the teeth to stop erosion from penetrating the deeper parts.
Fluoride benefits children and adults alike. The sooner children are exposed to fluoride, the chances of developing cavities are reduced. Studies conducted on children and adolescents who received fluoride treatments for a year revealed that children were 43 percent less likely to develop tooth decay and cavities.
Getting your kid’s fluoride treatments from pediatric dentists doesn’t indicate they can neglect dental hygiene or six-monthly visits to the professional for exams and cleanings. Instead, it is merely an additional preventive barrier on their teeth to ensure they don’t become vulnerable to dental infections.
If your children need a protective shield over their teeth to battle cavities, Kids First Dental — Lancaster is just around the corner and willing to provide fluoride treatments to children whenever needed.